Century Marks

Jan 24, 2006

Allah be praised? Farah Ahmedi lost a leg and severely mangled the other one when, as a second-grader, she stepped on a landmine in her native Afghanistan. Then she lost her father and sisters in a bombing when the Taliban took over her country. Later, her brothers tried to escape to Pakistan, but they haven’t been seen or heard from since. Ahmedi and her mother took a harrowing trip themselves to Pakistan, where they were linked with World Relief, an evangelical American organization, which sponsored their relocation to the U.S. Not knowing any English, Ahmedi was mentored by an American Christian woman, who helped her to make the transition to this country. Ahmedi says her American friend is respectful of her Islamic faith. They share with each other what their religion means to them, without belittling the other or trying to convince her that her faith is inferior.